Earl Judah Silbert (March 8, 1936 – September 6, 2022) was an American lawyer who served as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from 1974 to 1979. He was the first prosecutor in the Watergate scandal, alongside two other U.S. Attorneys.
Early life
Silbert was born in Boston on March 8, 1936. His father was a lawyer and a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives for the Republican Party; his mother was a housewife and social worker. Silbert attended Phillips Exeter Academy, graduating in 1953. He then studied history at Harvard University, graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1957, before obtaining a Juris Doctor degree three years later from Harvard Law School.
Career
After graduating from law school, Silbert first worked at the United States Department of Justice (Tax Division) from 1960.
Silbert later represented Michael Abbell, a former U.S. Justice Department prosecutor who then became a defense attorney for Colombia's notorious Cali cartel and who was eventually sentenced to five years in prison for his involvement in drug trafficking. He also represented former Enron chairman Kenneth Lay.